1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to implements for cleaning various articles, and more specifically to a portable, compact tool adapted particularly for cleaning glass, such as vehicle window interior surfaces and other glass surfaces. The glass cleaning tool has a tubular handle portion and a generally tubular applicator head portion, with the applicator head being stored in the handle when not in use. The applicator extends from the handle to form a T-shaped tool when deployed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Glass surfaces, such as windows, vehicle windshields, etc., require periodic cleaning in order to maintain their optimum transparency. This is particularly true with motor vehicles, where loss of transparency due to a dirty or contaminated surface can pose a safety hazard. The exterior of a vehicle windshield normally receives most of the contamination (insects, road dirt kicked up by the tires of other vehicles, etc.), with other exterior glass surfaces also receiving a certain amount of dirt and contamination. This is such a widely recognized problem that most service stations provide some form of glass cleaning equipment for the use of motorists when they stop for fuel.
However, interior glass surfaces are also subject to the accumulation of various contaminants as well, which can render them difficult to see through. Cigarette smoke will leave a film of translucent material on the interior glass of a vehicle or other interior area (room of a home, etc.), and the plastics used in most newer vehicles will release gaseous materials which condense on other surfaces, such as the interior of the vehicle glass. Small children are well known to have tendencies to smear fingerprints on all kinds of surfaces, including vehicle glass interior surfaces. The net result of these various problems is that the interior glass of a motor vehicle needs cleaning from time to time, as well as the exterior surfaces of the glass.
Yet, no really suitable tool or implement has been developed in the past for such use. The tools provided at most service stations for cleaning the exterior glass, are much too long and bulky to manipulate into the sloped interior corners of a vehicle windshield or rear glass area. The windshield interior is particularly difficult to clean, with the steering wheel and rear view mirror restricting access to the windshield interior surface. Accordingly, most persons who have need to clean the interior glass surfaces of an automobile or other motor vehicle have merely used a spray-on cleaner or saturated cloth to apply a cleaning liquid or solvent, and a clean, dry cloth to remove the applied solvent and contaminants. This is the standard procedure, even at car washes where such work is accomplished on a constant basis. The typical motor vehicle operator has access to such equipment only at his or her home, in any event.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for a very small and compact glass cleaning tool to facilitate the cleaning of glass surfaces, particularly the interior surfaces of the windshield and other glass areas in a motor vehicle, although the present cleaning tool may be used on other glass surfaces as well. A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,376,195, issued on Apr. 26, 1921 to Alphonse Fernandez, titled “Window Cleaning Device,” describes a handheld device with an applicator head extending across the end of a handle to form a permanent, fixed, T-shaped configuration. The handle is solid, however, and is of a much smaller diameter than the head portion; the head cannot be stored within the handle of the Fernandez device. Moreover, Fernandez provides two separate compartments within the head portion of his device, with one being used for clean water or fluid and the other for the collection of dirty fluid. The head of the device must remain essentially horizontal during use and storage, or the fluid will leak or seep from the compartments. The Fernandez device is, thus, not suited for use across the interior or exterior surfaces of motor vehicle windows and the like, as it must be held with the head in an essentially horizontal orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,732, issued on Aug. 29, 1961 to James R. Gilchrist et al., titled “Bug Remover For Windshields And The Like,” describes a T-shaped device in which the handle portion serves as a reservoir for a cleaning fluid, which is dispensed through a porous sponge that extends across the head of the device. A relatively coarse bristled brush is also provided on the head. The device requires a separate supply of water into which the head is dipped to dilute the solvent as it flows from the reservoir within the handle. No means is provided for removing the head portion from the handle portion, and/or storing the head portion within the handle portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,747, issued on Sep. 24, 1974 to Ulysee Seymore, titled “Washer/Squeegee,” describes a device which more closely resembles the scrubbing and cleaning device of the Gilchrist et al. '732 U.S. patent discussed immediately above, than it does the present invention. The Seymore device includes a hollow tubular handle, which serves as a reservoir for a cleaning fluid or liquid, with a fluid passage communicating with a porous sponge, which extends along the head of the device. A manually operable valve at the neck of the device allows the user to control fluid flow from the reservoir handle to the sponge applicator along the head. The neck of the head portion is threaded onto the reservoir handle portion, and cannot retract into the handle portion for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,213, issued on Oct. 4, 1983 to Peter R. Evans, titled “Cleaning Implement For Boats,” describes a device having a narrow, solid, elongate handle, which attaches adjustably and removably to a hollow head extending thereacross to form a generally T-shaped configuration. The head is intended to remain sealed during use, as it provides a buoyancy chamber to provide support for the device while cleaning the bottom of a boat while it is in the water. While Evans provides for the storage of the cleaning sponges within the hollow head when the device is not in use, it is impossible to store the head portion within the handle, as the handle has a much smaller diameter and is a solid component.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,595, issued on May 10, 1988 to John E. Isaacs, titled “Window Cleaning Device,” describes various embodiments having one or more squeegees and/or a scrubber disposed along the edges of the head component, with a handle pivotally secured to the midpoint of the handle. The device forms a T-configuration when the head is deployed for use, with the handle and head folding parallel to one another for storage of the device. While the handle is hollow, it does not provide sufficient internal space for the storage of the head of the device therein, nor can the head of the device be displaced to fit within the handle. Also, Isaacs does not provide any form of cleaning fluid container for his device, nor means to prevent dirty fluid remaining on the cleaning elements from contacting another object against which his device is placed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,386, issued on Mar. 7, 1989 to Uberto Re, titled “Combined Manual Implement For Window Snow Removal, Ice Scraping, Washing And Drying, For Vehicles In General,” describes a T-shaped device having clamps for gripping a squeegee, brush, and/or sponge along the length of the head component thereof. A T-shaped ice scraper has a handle, which may be inserted within the handle stem of the device, with the head of the ice scraper nesting within the channel of the T-shaped head of the main component. Neither head of the ice scraper nor primary component may be turned to retract within the handle of the primary component, and no cleaning fluid reservoir is provided by Re for his combination window cleaning device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,001, issued on Sep. 4, 1990 to Alain E. Billat, titled “Multi-Purpose Cleaning Device, In Particular For Vehicle Windows And The Like,” describes a relatively small handheld device having a generally T-shaped configuration. The head is immovably affixed to the handle portion; however, the head and handle are separable along a generally symmetrical parting line to form two T-shaped components. A fluid reservoir is placed within the hollow handle portion, with a trigger mechanism operating to expel a cleaning fluid from the reservoir. The head of the device cannot be retracted or stored within the handle, as can the head of the present glass cleaning tool. Billat does provide for covering or containing a wet and/or soiled cleaning element, but does so by pivoting a cover thereover, with the cover remaining pivotally attached and parallel to the head of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,283, issued on Jul. 12, 1994 to Jacques Viens, titled “Multi-Function Glass Cleaning Apparatus,” describes a device having a relatively bulky head with a long, narrow detachable handle. The device has a hollow interior for the storage of a cleaning fluid therein, and also has a generally L-shaped side elevation. The distal end of one arm of the L includes a squeegee, while the juncture of the two arms has a sponge or similar element therealong. The handle attaches removably to the distal portion of the arm opposite the squeegee. The device cannot fold with the head stored in the handle container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,586, issued on Sep. 6, 1994 to Peter S. Vosbikian, titled “Window Cleaning Device,” describes a generally T-shaped component having a pair of mirror image crossmembers, which clamp a squeegee along one edge thereof and a sponge along the opposite edge thereof. The two clamping components form the crossmember or head of a T-shaped assembly, with a socket for a handle forming the stem of the T. The handle receptacle and head components are permanently secured together, and cannot move, pivot, or retract relative to one another. Accordingly, no means is provided for storing the head within the handle portion of the Vosbikian cleaning device, nor does Vosbikian provide any means for holding and/or dispensing a cleaning fluid therefrom or preventing the cleaning elements from coming into contact with another object.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/78,519, published on Jun. 27, 2002, titled “Low Profile Combination Scrubbing And Squeegee Device,” describes another generally T-shaped cleaning implement having a head component comprising the crossmember of the assembly with a sponge and squeegee thereon, and a narrow, elongate, articulated handle forming the stem of the T configuration. The articulated handle permits the device to be used to clean the glass in a narrow, confined space, such as the gap between the rear window and camper shell on a pickup camper vehicle. Boothby does not provide any means of folding the head portion of his device to store within the handle, nor does he provide any means of containing a fluid or preventing contact of the soiled cleaning elements with another surface.
British Patent No. 450,879, published on Jul. 27, 1936, titled “Improvements In And Relating To Cleaning Brushes For Underwater Use,” describes a device having a hollow head to provide buoyancy for the device. As such, the Haward cleaning brush more closely resembles the cleaning tool of the Evans '213 U.S. Patent, discussed further above, than it does the present invention. Haward does not provide any means of dispensing a cleaning fluid, containing soiled fluid, or storing the cleaning elements within a hollow handle portion to prevent their contact with other objects.
Finally, German Patent No. 3,834,301 published on Apr. 12, 1990, titled “Cleaning Implement,” describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) an extrusion having a series of slots therein. One of the slots captures the head of the handle therein, forming a generally T-shaped configuration for the assembly. The other two slots capture squeegee and sponge elements therein, with a brush being secured to an outer surface of the extrusion. No storage of the head within the handle for convenience and to prevent contact of the soiled cleaning elements with other objects, dispensing of fluid, or containing soiled fluid are apparent in the '301 German Patent Publication.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a glass cleaning tool solving the aforementioned problems is desired.